As of 2026-09-11 · the last 10 years
Research intensity has declined to about 14% of the element's own all-time peak, a level reached after a steady drop from 2016, with the historical peak occurring well before this window.
Research intensity ran from about 20% of the element's own all-time peak in 2016 to about 14% in 2026 — a steady decline, and the all-time peak (1967) lies before this window. Over the same span its share of research attention across all elements held steady. Among the 118 elements, einsteinium has one of the smaller research literatures of any element.
The number of papers involving the element held roughly level from about 24 in 2016 to about 24 in 2025. That is slower than the literature as a whole grew over the same years, so the element lost ground in the wider body of research.
The research landscape for einsteinium is defined by its role as a minor presence in several larger scientific communities, where it appears in under 1% of papers. The most significant area of activity is Synthesis and Decay of Superheavy Elements and Heavy-Ion Collision Physics, which now accounts for about 57% of the element's recent research, a sharp rise from 22% in the previous period. Einsteinium is a minor presence in this much larger community, but work here includes a 2025 paper on decay spectroscopy of heavy and superheavy nuclei, cited about 5 times. Another rising field is Low-Temperature Plasma Generation, Diagnostics and Surface Treatment, holding about 14% of recent research, up from zero in the prior period. Here, einsteinium is a minor presence, with a 2023 paper on stopping powers of materials for swift charged particles cited about 16 times. Conversely, Actinide Chemistry and Nuclear Fuel Materials has seen a significant decline in share, dropping from 56% to about 7% of recent research. While einsteinium remains a minor presence in this community, it is home to a 2018 paper on bond covalency and oxidation state of actinide ions, cited over 100 times, and a 2021 Nature paper on the structural characterization of an einsteinium complex, cited about 35 times. Smaller shares are held by rising communities in Boron Neutron Capture Therapy and Atomic Clocks, each accounting for about 7% of recent research, while Uranium Extraction and Separation has declined to zero share.
The composition of einsteinium research has shifted dramatically away from general actinide chemistry toward specialized nuclear physics and plasma applications. The most cited paper in the window, a 2019 entry in the Encyclopedia of Geochemistry, is cited over 240 times, though it belongs to a community not central to this element's recent trajectory. For a deeper look at the current standing of einsteinium research, see the Last 12 Months and Executive Brief reports.
What changed in the past year: new papers, shifting applications, emerging collaborators. See the momentum over a shorter window than the decade view.
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Showing Einsteinium's three strongest connections. Personal opens the slider and the whole 118-element graph.